High Five Recipes: Super Simple Burritos

All this time, I thought burritos was spelled “b-u-r-r-i-t-o-e-s”. Duh, I know. Spelling is not my gift. (You’ve probably figured that out by now.) I had “burritoes” typed in this recipe, but it just didn’t look right.

So, I did a swag search for “burritoes” and you know what it asked me?

“Did you mean burritos?”

Well, that answered my question. But sheesh, it’s like the computer is mocking me when it does that, you know?

Brown meat in a large pan. Salt to taste. Remove from heat and stir in salsa and shredded cheese. Spoon 2-3 tablespoons onto a tortilla and wrap.

To Freeze: Lay burritos barely touching in a 9×13 freezer safe dish. If you are freezing more than one layer of burritos, place wax paper or parchment paper between the layers to prevent them from sticking together.

To Re-Heat: Place burritos on a baking sheet. If burritos are thawed, warm in the oven for about 15 minutes until heated through and through. If burritos are frozen, leave them in the oven for about 30 minutes. They might get a little crispy on the outside, but yum!

Comments

One of the meals we received when our daughter was born was a bag full of homemade frozen breakfast burritos. It was a wonderful meal to receive! We pulled a few out at several different times and the gift of food just kept on giving!

Whenever I make beans, I make extra so I can freeze a bunch of burritos. A favorite of my family is chicken, black beans, rice, salsa and cheese. Sometimes I put sour cream in them. I never thought to give them to someone with a new baby, that is a great idea.

Thanks for this recipe, it looks delicious! But I was wondering, could you do a post on how you cook beans? I have tried to cook dried beans so many times, but they always turn out HARD! No matter what kind of beans I use, or how long I soak them the night before, or how long I cook them the next day. I have never had beans turn out well. I have tried everything, you are my only hope!

This is a most timely post because I’ve been thinking about ways to pre-make easy dinners for nights when I travel or life is just a little more than I can manage. Frozen burritos are perfect because I can even make ones customized to each family member’s preferences. Thanks for sharing the detail on how you freeze and reheat them.

Not to ask a dumb question, but what oven temperature is everyone cooking/re-heating these at? I made a huge batch, but now don’t want to ruin them by cooking them to death OR finding them boiling lava hot on the outside but frozen solid on the inside! ;o) Thanks!

I’d say about 350 but I microwave individual ones by putting the beans and cheese in the middle of the tortilla, microwaving it for 30 sec. and then adding extras for whomever wants it. This is the only way 9 people can have exactly what they want! Ha! :)

My mother made burritos like this (from more regular ingredients though) growing up and she would pan fry them in some butter. Adds a great crispiness and flavor to them. My husband will actually eat them too (he is from Mexico, so these aren’t exactly authentic) and have made them for him when he works out of town.

FYI…BEAN burritos are not a good idea for a breastfeeding mom with a new baby. Spoken from experience as I’m prepping some freezer meals for after baby #3 is born (hopefully in the next week!!). However, the meat ones or the breakfast ones would be HEAVENLY for a tired new mommy!

No, you’re not spelling-impaired. At least not English spelling. ‘Burrito’ is a Spanish word, and they don’t add a silent ‘e’ for making it a plural, because their ‘o’s are always long.
‘Volcanoes’ and ‘tomatoes’ are English words (well, don’t quote me on that! but they follow English spelling rules) and they have a silent ‘e’ added to keep the ‘o’ long.
(I learned this rule after frustrating attempts to get started on a research project on ‘volcanoes’ once.)

My sister-in-law sent me a link to your site, and I’m enjoying all the recipes I find here – thanks!

I think you could easily make these into enchiladas. My mom made enchiladas all the time growing up. Just roll the burritos in enchilada sauce (i’m sure it’s easy to make) and sprinkle the top with cheese. It would make a great dinner party meal.

I read this recipe awhile back and one of your main reasons for liking these is the exact reason I am back today…I am making the bean version to take to a friend who just had a baby. As well as some waffles that I made and froze for her to throw in the toaster. :) Thanks.

Am a complete novice but I’d like to start learning. I love plain black bean and cheese burritos and your recipe seems easy. A stupid question – how do you cook the black beans? The recipe says “cooked” or do you buy them that way?
Also, what temperature do you cook them in the oven?
Last question – I have a toaster oven, can I use that instead of a conventional oven? What temp and how long?
Thanks – I love the idea of limited ingredients. Most of my most favourite dishes in the whole world have that many or less!
Angela

You can buy them cooked as in “canned beans” which is much easier. But it’s less expensive to cook them yourself. Just follow the directions on the bag – you have to soak them overnight in water and then cook them for about an hour the next day.

I use a 350 degree oven to warm the burritos. And yes, a toaster oven works great, again at 350 for about 8 minutes.

Why have I never thought to make and freeze burritos before? Thank you so much for this! In just a few more minutes than it would have taken to make the burritos for dinner, I was able to put 20 in the freezer for future lunches. I just ate the first frozen one this afternoon and it cooked up great :) (P.S. I made ground beef, black bean, cheese, and rice burritos and used your taco seasoning to season it all up. YUM!)

I just had to tell you, I made these this week for the first time and my husband said they were better than the restaurant ones!! He also said we don’t need to buy anymore from the store either;-) Thank you for such an easy and tasty recipe! I will be making these from now on and have them on supply in my freezer.:-)

Oh, my!! So funny you posted this today! I am making these right now! I am going to put them all together in a dish and just take it out and warm it in the oven later. I even have some left over red enchilada sauce I might spread over the top of them before baking. Yum…I can’t wait for dinner tonight!

This is a good simple recepie i also like to add a salsa name pico de gallo which is tomatoes onion cilantro lemon juice and a pinch of salt my family loves them especialy when i make the burritos with chicken and if there in season ill add avocados to my salsa as you can see spelling was not my favorite subject lol.

Thanks for the buritto recipes. I would love to see more potato recipes. I have 5 rows of potato plants in my garden for the 1st time and will have an abundance of potatos come fall. I have already printed your hash brown recipe. One question: Do you cook the potatos fully or partially. I just don’t want to end up with mushy hash browns. I can’t wait to start freezing meals ahead too for busy days.

I have a version that I love. I use a tbl. Or two of your homemade taco seasoning and black beans, along with a couple tablespoons of water in the blender . Blend to a thick but smooth consistency. I spread it out on a tortilla with cheese and either heat or eat room temp with lettuce tomato, homemade sour cream-so good!